The course on surfaces and interfaces provides a fundamental in-depth description of the chemistry and physics of hard and soft surfaces and their interactions with the surrounding environment. It combines two different approaches to describe the subject and to promote the interdisciplinarity of the course. One view is that of chemistry and the other of physics. The former focuses on and describes chemical interactions and surface/interface modifications, while the latter view provides the atomistic origin of surface/interface structures. The theoretical background will further be supported by introducing characterization techniques with a special focus and attention on measuring the physico-chemical properties of surfaces and interfaces. The suggested structure of the course and the topics included are given below. Due to the individual character of the doctoral study, the course structure can be adjusted to suit the student's individual needs for the successful completion of their dissertation thesis. Theoretical part of the course The topics covered by the course are, though not limited to: 1. Introduction and overview of the topic - surfaces in nature, catalysis, surfaces and interfaces in industry. 2. Properties of surfaces and interfaces - phase, phase interphase, definition; surface and interface energy and tension; Bulk and surface crystallography, morphology, super-lattices and superstructures, surface reconstruction and relaxation, electronic structure of surfaces and interfaces, work function, surface energy, lattice vibrations, Langmuir films, phase interface with a curved surface (Laplace Young eq., Kelvin eq. Thomson eq.). 3. Surface chemistry - surface charge, surface wettability; electrically charged phase interfaces; theory and determination methods. 4. Processes at surfaces - adsorption, desorption, diffusion, nucleation and inter-layer transport; film growth and epitaxy; growth modes; self-organization. 5. Preparation of Surfaces - sources of contamination; single crystal surfaces - cleaving and annealing; chemical cleaning; ion sputtering; chemical, physical, physico-chemical methods for the preparation of nanostructured surfaces, changes in surface chemistry, roughness, etc. 6. Methods of thin-film deposition (physical and chemical deposition techniques) - vacuum (HV and UHV) technology; molecular beam deposition; chemical vapour deposition; pulsed-laser deposition; sputter deposition; reaction segregation. Wet-deposition techniques - Langmuir-Blodgett technique; spin-coating; printing techniques; dip-coating. 7. Dispersions - division and examples of dispersion systems, aerosols, suspensions, lyosols, emulsions, gels, physical properties of dispersion systems. 8. Methods and techniques to characterize interfaces and surfaces. 1) Diffraction techniques - kinematical description of diffraction; low energy electron diffraction (LEED); geometry of diffraction pattern; diffraction of high energy electrons; surface x-ray diffraction; helium diffraction. 2) Electron spectroscopy - Electron sources, analyzers and detectors; photon sources; element-specific spectroscopy; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; core-level shifts; Auger electron spectroscopy; chemical elements analysis; surface band structure analysis. 3) Atomic force microscopy - scanning tunnelling microscopy - topography, tunnel process, spectroscopy, applications. 4) Thermal desorption spectroscopy - principles, types of spectra, evaluation; ion scattering. 5) Ellipsometry - principles, evaluation, and applications. 6) Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) - principles and applications. Practical part of the course As part of the course, students will be offered a practical course (at least one practical should be selected from the list below) to deepen and apply the theoretical knowledge gained.
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